Deep among the rolling green pastures of northwest Meath, a small group of Ballinacree Gaels keep their proud GAA flag flying high. It is easy, terribly easy, to dismiss the St. Brigid's club and concentrate on the more prominent side in the area, Oldcastle. But that would be an error of judgement, a misconception, because St. Brigid's, like true GAA folk have continued to chisel away at the challenges of the organisation for many years now. They have had more pain than pleasure in recent times but still the heart beats strongly within the club. A great many people have dedicated their life to this club and aim at making it a real force in the county. If medals were bestowed for pure spirit and effort alone, they would have a cabinet or two full by now. Although they might not have a huge catchment area, what St. Brigid's lack in quantity they make up for in quality. This year may have been a step in the wrong direction, with relegation to Junior B, but the Ballinacree outfit are already planning their assault back up the ladder next season. At the centre of that crusade will be secretary come player Ollie Timmins. The 23-year-old has had a draining two years after taking on the job of club secretary in 2001. The first 12 months went smoothly and so he was asked to stay on this year. Thus the friendly student remained and has had to incorporate his duties as secretary with those of a player once more. In essence he is quite a unique club dual-star. "It hasn't always been easy but sure when you get a job like this you just have to do it and keep the whole show going. This is my second year being club secretary and you are always kept busy with it, because people would be ringing you up looking for all sorts of things, surveys, phone numbers and so on. Therefore you rarely get any spare time because there are lots of bits and pieces to do and you are always on the go," he says. Currently studying in Dundalk to become a qualified electrician, Ollie lives away from home for most of the week, but still carries out his club duties admirably. Although he played full-back for most of this year's championship, he spent much of his time trying to reorganise various games for the club. "Our list of fixtures really didn't suit us because we had an awful lot of midweek games and many of our players are away during the week. I mean we have lads down in Galway, Limerick, Waterford and so on and you can't really expect them fellas to come all the way up for a game during the week," he contests. Ollie got involved with St. Brigid's after playing with the local amalgamation side at underage level. Since then he has been a loyal servant to the club and still only in his early twenties, he is one of many who will help dictate its future, and hopefully propel them forward. He is also hoping that this year was but a minor glitch and is focused on guiding the club back up the championship table in the near future. "We have a few very nice young players coming through and for a club our size, the talent is pretty good. Make no doubt about it we are a small club but we all want to bounce back up and believe we can." Their championship results don't exactly make for bedtime reading but Ollie is quick to point out that they lost many of those games by very narrow margins. "We were unlucky in a lot of matches and were beaten by only a point or two in some of them. That is the way things go sometimes I guess but we certainly know we could have done a lot better. We played Skryne in the first round and only lost by a goal. That sort of set a bad trend because we continued to lose out in close games that followed." In fact, apart from their 3-15 to 1-8 loss at the hands of Gaeil Colmcille, St. Brigid's were within touching distance of most teams they faced this year. They lost to Kilbride 0-11 to 0-9 and Dunderry 1-14 to 1-12. However a play-off defeat at the hands of Dunshaughlin condemned them to relegation. But the sheer talent of this team is likely to inspire them back to winning ways in the coming months. Not only are St.Brigid's good enough for the upper echelons of junior football, but they are probably capable of holding their own at the middle grade of intermediate football as well. The cold winter nights have been dark and long of late but recollections and memories of times past bring renewed hope for the coming spring. "We won the under-21 special 'C' championship in 1999 and a lot of those players are still around today. I was part of that panel but unfortunately couldn't play because I injured my knee. The injury kept me out for quite a while but it was still great to be part of the panel. Stephen Farrelly was the captain that year. We beat Curraha in the final, which was played in Bective, and that win was a great achievement for the club," he recalls. St. Brigid's also dropped down from intermediate that year, after spending five seasons contesting the grade. What it all means today is that the club are getting together a splendid mix of championship winning youngsters and experienced players that have played intermediate football. "We have a good team and can play better than we did this year. However being successful in Gaelic football these days requires serious commitment and fitness. It is important to have players training but it is hard sometimes because a lot of lads are into soccer and other sports. The average person just doesn't need the hassle of putting in all that commitment," believes Ollie. Even though St. Brigid's championship campaign may have lacked the consistency and strength they had hoped for, their league form was impressive. In Division 5A of the league they finished joint top with Longwood and St. Vincent's, having played six games and losing only one. Four wins were registered and one draw also. It is a commendable record and an indication of the strength within this side. The Timmins family have quite a strong connection with the club, with two of Ollie's older brothers playing for the sky blues at one time or another. Both Michael and Eunan lined out for St. Brigid's in the past, and as neither currently play, it is up to Ollie to keep the tradition alive. And it is one he is handling with great assurance and ease. The fact that he is so young and dedicated to the St. Brigid's cause is refreshing for the GAA. Of course, like any other club secretary Ollie's services are provided on a voluntary basis, but that is the way he wishes things to continue in the future. "I don't really know about this pay-for-play proposal because I think it would take the good out of GAA, because after all it is an amateur sport. It might not be such a good idea to see people getting money out of it. But in saying that inter-county players are putting in a huge effort so maybe some system could be worked out to cover their travelling expenses." Money or no money Ollie Timmins will continue to be a St. Brigid's dual-star, on and off the pitch, for the foreseeable future. He will, like all Ballinacree Gaels, diligently work away at Meath's most westerly GAA outpost. They will continue to lay the foundations for future success, unperturbed by recent misfortune. Perhaps Aldous Huxley's words in the 1940's are appropriate. Back then the Surrey born author wrote, "There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that is your own self." It is a motto the St. Brigid's club have inadvertently taken on board. They are steadfast and devoted GAA people and they love their club. Next year the sky blues of Ballinacree should be perfectly primed to pounce once again. Tweet

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